


Nice to See You

by saecchii (orphan_account)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Being stood up, Dorks, First Dates, Flirting, Florona - Freeform, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Shiro loves fries, Smitten Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 12:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14165064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/saecchii
Summary: There's a guy primping in the reflection of Shiro's car window, and Shiro can't help but be smitten.





	Nice to See You

After what felt like the fifth traffic light, Shiro had finally grown fed up and turned into the nearest plaza. He had spent the better part of an hour driving, aimlessly, and decidedly not looking at his phone. If he didn’t notice it, then it didn’t exist. Right? With a twist, Shiro turned off his car and didn’t bother to unbuckle his belt.

The burger joint he had pulled up to had a large fluorescent spaceship on top, the neon flashing bright purple stars in uneven intervals. The sun was only just setting, night threatening to come forth quick. Shiro didn’t have much worry for that since he was parked near a tall street lamp one space away. If it got dark while he was still sitting in the his car, Shiro didn’t think he could mind. He might even prefer it.

The parking lot was moderately filled the closer one got. From where Shiro was parked, he had a few spaces between him and the three cars that had parked near. 

In a way, it was a blessing. Even if he didn’t plan on getting out of his car, trapped in a sense inside, the lack of other people, other cars right next to him meant he could breathe. He could shove his seat all the way back, scrub his eyes, and maybe scream a little. Matt had said that sometimes you just needed to yell it out, and lately Shiro was beginning to think maybe that were true. But then, Matt had also been trying desperately to matchmake him for weeks, and finally, Shiro had had to escape. 

Matt meant well. Shiro knew this, saw this. But sometimes Matt could be too nosy for his own good. So what if Shiro barely talked to anyone? Or hadn’t had a date in months (or years, but who was counting? Matt maybe). He wasn’t lonely, by far. He had Matt, Katie, and his childhood friend Keith. Well, maybe not Keith right now. Keith was out of the country for a few months with his mom on some bonding time or whatever it was he called it. Shiro’s usual daily activities of jogging in the morning, though he still did it alone, and sparring in the evenings had whittled down. Katie and Matt’s computer interests only invigorated Shiro so far. Shiro was fine alone, he didn’t mind it. Often times, he even enjoyed it. Other times….

So, yeah, without one of his oldest friends around, Shiro  _ was _ lonely. A bit.

But Keith had often been in and out of his life growing up. His family was wild like that. They could still text, they did. Even though Keith’s texts were like an old person’s. Contrary to what Katie might be spreading, it was definitely  _ not _ Shiro that texted like a grandma barely able to navigate text messages. Didn’t mean Matt needed to start shoving people left and right at him in an effort to either get him hitched or expand his friend circle. Not at all. Nope.

Shiro had taken advantage of Katie ragging on Matt about a discrepancy in some coding to grab his keys and hightail it to his car. The car was already down the street when Matt had run out bare foot onto the front porch with nothing but Shiro’s tail lights fading in the distance. Four or five calls came and went. Shiro didn’t pick up. Shiro’s supposed date with Olivier would just have to - not happen. 

Back to the burger joint. Part of him wanted to go in and sit down, enjoy a burger for a while. Another part wanted to go through their drive through, one that had a very Sonic-esque feel to it, and then park himself back where he was now; make a mess of the interior with crumbs and wrappers. Shiro clicked his tongue and let himself slump in his seat. Instinctively, he pushed a foot down on the brake despite the car being off. His other leg bent, bracing against the floor.  Shiro folded his hands on his stomach and let the silence of the parking lot settle his mind.

A voice startled Shiro a few minutes later, knee painfully bouncing the underside of the steering wheel. 

“Son of a - “ Shiro hissed.

He looked over the sill of his car window, peeking up to see a young man stumbling to a stop right outside his car. The man bent down, hands bracing on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. He drew loud heaps of air like he had been running the entire way here. Shiro’s hand hovered over the crank for the windows, eyes tracing the pretty curve of the man’s neck. The man turned to look at him, dead on. Shiro felt a breath lodge in his throat. The man bit his lip.

He smoothed at his hair, pulled at his cheeks and the collar of his blue polo. A patch like a little alien was on the breast pocket of his shirt. He swiveled, checking at himself from as many angles as he could. Shiro’s eyes followed, cheeks burning as he hugged himself and tried not to let an embarrassing sound escape him. The man patted at his bottom, frowning, and twisting forward again. The man furrowed his brows, staring at Shiro longer without blinking - and groaned. Slapping a hand to the top of Shiro’s car, the man let his forehead fall against the back of his hand.

“Maybe this is a bad idea,” The man muttered under his breath. 

Shiro slowly, quietly exhaled.

Right, his windows were ultra tinted. There was no way the guy could even  _ see _ him. He wouldn’t know Shiro was there if he just kept quiet. Shiro raked his eyes over the man’s face, his view much better now. 

He was, by Shiro’s estimate, similar in age to him. His skin was smooth, flawless even, with a face framed by shorthair, and lashes  that were dark and long. His thin nose was the teeniest bit upturned and there was a dimple that popped up every time he drew his mouth into a thin line. He was thin, with wide shoulders, built like a swimmer, built like a page out of Shiro’s dreams.

Shiro cursed in his head. Now was not the time. 

Gingerly, he pressed the tips of his fingers to the window. Carefully, he breathed again, watching the man’s eyes slowly open. They stared at each other, though the other didn’t know it. The man drew back. He slapped his cheeks and squared his shoulders.

“Mama didn’t raise a coward!” He said to himself, and marched his way to the burger joint.

Flattening his palm to the window, Shiro found himself falling sideways against his driver’s seat. Damn, that had to be one of the prettiest guys he’d ever seen. Glancing at the drive thru one last time, Shiro wrestled himself out of his seatbelt and stumbled out towards the burger place.

+  


The inside was just as space-themed as the outside. Booths looked vaguely like spaceships, the cartoonish pointy top of it framing the back of them. More blinking neon stars winked at Shiro along the walls. In the corner a jukebox playing old classics cycled through on its own. Near what seemed to be a bar was a tv playing some game Shiro didn’t care for. Shiro shoved his hands into his pockets and tried to subtly pick out the man in the crowd of people. He caught the eye of a waitress who he nodded at as she motioned for him to choose a table. Shiro nearly chose any random table out of growing anxiety to keep awkwardly standing when he’d spotted the familiar short mop of the man who had been primping in front of his car.

An impulse to walk up burned inside of him until he noticed that - the man was looking around him, leg bouncing. Settling at a table not too far off, in clear vantage point, Shiro felt the air go out of him. It didn’t take a genius to know that the guy was waiting for someone. 

The way he glanced at his phone, fingers drumming as his eyes flickered this way and that. He was on a date. Taking the glass of water the waitress had passed him as she’d gone to fetch some menus, Shiro dejectly chewed some ice. He rested his cheek in his palm and tried to make peace with his bad luck.

When the waitress came back, tired but still trying to smile, Shiro smiled back. He cracked open the menu and chose the first burger he saw, with a giant heaping of fries. He made a note to leave a good tip for the woman, watching as she tried to hide the drag in her step. At least he could make someone’s day a little better if his wouldn’t be.

+  


Idly knocking back his fries, Shiro glanced up at the clock. Two hours had passed. He’d eaten slow, going through a hot cup of tea with a sense of calm that he had otherwise not had earlier. The waitress, Florona, passed by, lingering to as if he needed anything more. Shiro shook his head, bidding her thanks. Against his better judgement, Shiro looked back to the man he had been smitten with.

The man was alone.

Shiro furrowed his brows. Surely the man’s date had shown up? Had they just gone to the bathroom? Just left maybe while Shiro was adamant in enjoying himself and stuffing his face full of an unusually delicious burger? That didn’t seem to be the case. 

Shiro eyed the way the man’s shoulders slumped. He was curled in on himself. Both hands were clasped together, trapped between his thighs. Only one glass of water lay before him. He sighed and looked up again, eyes roving slowly over the crowd until all he could do was hang his head. Shiro’s chest ached, a tightness that squeezed all the way down to his stomach. His toes curled in his shoes, bidding his impulse away. The man touched the screen of his phone, watching it light up and not getting the answers he sought. 

“This was a bad idea,” The man said, just loud enough that Shiro could perk up at it.

Time stopped for all of a second, a tick that might have dragged in slow motion. Shiro’s brain went offline as his body shot up. Gathering his plate of fries, Shiro slid into the seat across from the other man. Startled, the man looked up at Shiro, wide-eyed and uncertain. Shiro shot him his best smile.

“Hey there, couldn’t help but notice you were by yourself,” Shiro said, then cursed himself for how creepy that must sound. He cleared his throat. “N-Not that I was like staring or anything. Please don’t think this is creepy - I just - uh.”

The man sucked his lips in, the beginnings of a smile threatening to come through at the corners of his mouth. He straightened, tilting his head to get a different angle of Shiro’s face, scrutinizing him. Shiro wrinkled his nose and hoped the guy wasn’t put off by the scar on his face or the way he had lazily pinned back his bangs.

“Wait, let me start over,” Shiro hastily said. “Hey there, I’m Shiro and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind splitting some fries with me?”

The man looked down at the remaining fries in Shiro’s plate and then back at him, brow raised. Shiro flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was going to order another round,” He told him. “How much do you want?”

_ That _ earned him a brilliant smile. His lips pulled back, revealing white teeth, stretching his cheeks until his eyes had to shut. The man ducked his head, giggling a little. “I’m Lance and I wouldn’t mind sharing some fries.”

“Lance,” Shiro repeated, smiling around the sound of his name. Lance’s lips parted, teeth digging into his bottom lip like he was holding something back. Shiro nodded. “Awesome, lemme just call Florona.”

He raised his hand and waggled his prosthetic fingers at Florona who was giving him a puzzled look. He shrugged with a sheepish smile.

“Florona, huh?” Lance asked. “So, you come here often?”

The realization of his words dawned on them both instantly; Shiro whipped his head around to grin at Lance who laughed while his cheeks burned red. Lance winked despite himself.

Shiro huffed. “This is my first time here, actually. I didn’t plan on coming in myself. I was just trying to get away from home for a bit.”

“Oh yeah? This is my first time, too. I, uh, was supposed to meet someone here. But...well…”

“That’s their loss then,” Shiro interrupted.

When Florona came over, he asked her for some more fries, wondering why he felt a little embarrassed to be judged by her eyes shifting between him, Lance, and his table, and the quirk of her eyebrow. She whisked his plate away anyway. Shiro looked back to Lance who was slack-jawed.

“You just met me, though,” Lance told him. “How can you know?”

Shiro shrugged. “Well, if you give me the chance, I’d love to know.”

Lance’s face light up instantly, the illusion of steam pouring out of his ears as he stammered through a reply. Shiro laughed, tucking his face down by his shoulder. He peeked at Lance, watching the way his lower lip jutted out in a cute pout. God if he didn’t want to know this man.

“Are you always this smooth? I might have competition in the pickup lines department. I’ll have you know, I’m a pro!” Lance said.

“Not always, but maybe you just bring that side out in me. Feel free to drop a line on me, I’d love to be reeled in,” Shiro replied.

“Now that’s just unfair!” Lance sputtered.

Shiro laughed again, lazily dodging the way Lance was reaching across the table to try and flatten his hands over Shiro’s mouth. Lance managed to succeed just as Florona returned; he was half off his seat, stretched across the table with both hands over Shiro’s mouth, and Shiro’s hands gently, loosely holding Lance’s wrists. They glanced to her, unable to move away from each other.

Grinning mischievously, Florona slid the plate of fries down on the table, just under Lance’s chest. “Enjoy, boys,” She said and sauntered off.

Lance fell back into his seat, both of them red-faced and quiet. They chanced a look up at each other, and broke out into a fit of laughter. God, he even laughed beautifully - boisterous and loud and full of life. Shiro was spiralling fast.

Lance popped a fry into his mouth. “All things aside, I’m really glad you came to eat with me, Shiro.”

Shiro hummed, barely hiding a smile in the palm of his hand. “I’m really glad you decided to fix yourself in front of my car window.”

Lance’s eyes bugged. “THAT WAS YOURS? OH MY GOD.”

Lance didn’t even notice all the heads that had turned his way in favor of trying to shove a handful of fries into Shiro’s mouth to stop him from laughing. A few of them fell across the table and in Shiro’s lap, lost to the sound of Lance’s embarrassed exclamations and Shiro’s teasing coos at Lance’s expense.

“You know too much, Mister! There’s no way I can let you go, now!” Lance huffed.

Shiro grinned, smearing ketchup around the far side of the plate with a fry. A bout of shyness took him over as he looked up at Lance through his lashes. “Give me your number and you won’t have to?”

Lance beamed, sliding his phone across the table, hand laying on top of it. “I think I’m going to enjoy getting to know you, Shiro.”

Shiro rested his hand over Lance’s, rubbed his thumb across the back of Lance’s hand. “Yeah, I feel the same way.”

They didn’t move their hands for the rest of their date.

**Author's Note:**

> this had been something I wanted to make last year, but it never happened. then, out of nowhere i got the urge and did it. its not beta-read or edited, just written as is. part of me feels much better with that in mind that i could just write without worrying cuz that's what stopped me last time when i tried.
> 
> i'm happy, more or less, with how it turned out, especially how dorky-smooth shiro is.


End file.
